Western Hemisphere
Senator Miguel Carrizosa, the chair of the Paraguayan Congress and member of the minority party Partido Patria Querida (PPQ), accused on Monday President Hugo Chávez of "meddling in internal affairs." The Venezuelan ruler said in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba that the extreme right is preparing a coup against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.

At a press conference, Carrizosa was upset because "the power that denounced the arms race in the region was the Executive Office, not the Congress."

"We believe that the claims that the far right is planning a coup against President (Lugo) are offensive and we reject them. Furthermore, in accordance to the Constitution, there is a democratic instrument to bring charges, if necessary, against the president, namely impeachment," Carrizosa stressed.

Chávez said during the summit of the Bolivarian Alliances for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) held last weekend in Bolivia that the Paraguayan far right "takes Bolivia as an excuse to attack the government of Lugo. They are preparing a coup," AP reported.